Video 1:04
Taking sides over Syria

Iran is reported to be sending 4,000 revolutionary guards to back the government while Saudi Arabia plans arm the rebels with anti-aircraft missiles.

Transcript

EMMA ALBERICI, PRESENTER: A report in Britain's Independent newspaper says Iran is preparing to send 4,000 troops to Syria to support the Assad regime.

Iranians elected a new president over the weekend, the relative moderate Hassan Rowhani.

But foreign policy is still being set by the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei.

The Independent's Robert Fisk says the decision to send in troops was taken before the election.

ROBERT FISK, MIDDLE EAST CORRESPONDENT, THE INDEPENDENT: A decision has already been taken in Tehran to furnish Bashar al-Assad's forces with several thousand, initially 4,000 Revolutionary Guards. Now the White House has been saying for a long time that there are Revolutionary Guards inside Syria, which has not actually been true. There have been some intelligence officers, but not an actual contingent, not a force.

EMMA ALBERICI: The conflict in Syria will be high on the agenda at the G8 summit of world leaders getting underway now in Belfast.

President Obama and the British Prime Minister David Cameron will meet before the formal start of the summit to discuss what sort of military aid to send to the Syrian opposition.